Marriage
by simple-score
Summary: Just a simple one shot, looking at the marriage of Shepard and Garrus. All fluffy and nice. Rated T just to be safe. Image from Bioware.


**A/N: So I don't know what's going to happen in ME3 yet so I'm just going to assume they win and all survive because I like happy fluff.**

**Kaidan died at Virmire and Thane has died because of his illness but other than that everyone's alive. Spacer/war hero background for Shepard. Please let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

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><p>Leah Shepard stood nervously waiting for the music to change that signalled it was time for her entrance.<p>

'Ready?' Her father asked, holding out an arm.

The music changed. She took a deep breath, nodded to her father and took his arm for the long, slow walk up the aisle.

* * *

><p>'Anderson, you're not listening to me. We are not having a public wedding and that's final!' Leah was almost shouting at the Councillor on the screen in front of her.<p>

'Leah, you have to understand my position here. Since it was leaked that the two of you were together and having some sort of ceremony people are expecting something. Plus it would help Human-Turian relations no end. You have to see that Commander.'

Garrus walked in, shaking his head.

'I will have to talk to you later Anderson.'

'I don't mean to be a pain Shepard.' Anderson said. 'But there is a lot of pressure about this. From all sides.'

'Wasn't saving the world, twice, a big enough public feat?' She said sourly to Garrus as she turned off the monitor.

'Apparently not. I'm getting the same thing from the Hierarchy. They want the big public spectacle too.'

'But we get enough hate mail as it is!' Leah protested.

'We won't. Don't worry.'

He came over and wrapped his hand around her. Since the story had broken about their relationship from goodness knows where, Shepard, Garrus and most of the people who had served on the Normandy at one time or other, had to spend most of their time dodging reporters who wanted exclusive interviews. Turian and Human coupling had happened before that point but they were very rare. Plus everyone wanted a piece of their relationship now.

'Let's get out of here. Go for a walk or something.' Garrus said, leading her to the door.

'I hope we don't run into another Terra Firma rally? God that was awful.' Leah chuckled, remembering the faces in the crowd. 'They really didn't know whether to be cheering me, as an official hero obviously, or mobbing us for daring to have a Human Turian inter-species relationship.'

'Yes because nothing could be worse than a Human and a Turian being happy together.' Garrus' voice dripped sarcasm.'

'Obviously.'

They walked out into the light of the Citadel. The Normandy was still being repaired of the damage it had sustained from the final Reaper assault and Garrus was finishing his Spectre training, so they had rented a small apartment in the Citadel for the time being. It was nice, having a place that was just theirs.

'We could elope?' Leah suggested as they walked along.

'What's elope?' Asked Garrus.

'Running away to get married, not inviting anyone.'

'Doesn't really work in my culture. You need one of your clan to perform the service and another to witness.' Garrus explained.

'Damn.'

They had, in fact, only being engaged for a week and hadn't really discussed their own cultures ceremonies in any great detail. They were planning to have some sort of amalgamation, but as theirs would be the first official Human-Turian union, there was no set formula to go with. They were planning to make it up as they went along.

A voice suddenly caught both Garrus and Shepard's attention. They turned together to see a Turian pointing at them to someone they couldn't see.

'Oh great. Just what I needed.' Leah moaned.

'Well at least it my species this time and not yours. Good to keep the balance right.'

The male sprinted over to them and stared for a moment. Obviously the others were still catching up to him.

'It's you.' Was all he said.

There was a pause.

'Yes. It is.' Leah said when nothing else was forth coming.

Suddenly, the person who had been previously called came into view. It wasn't quite what either of them had expected.

'Hello.' Said the human woman standing next to the Turian. 'My name's Katie. Its so good to meet you both.' She smiled warmly at them.

'Yes.' Said the male. 'If it weren't for you, I would never have had the courage to tell Katie how I feel.'

He took the woman's hand and squeezed it. She laughed happily.

'We were both mooning over each other for nearly a year. But neither of us really knew how to take it to the next level. Plus the whole Turian Human relationship has never been that great, since the first contact war. But then Khali saw the announcement about you two, not only being together but being engaged and he strode straight into my office. And well.' She finished in a shy giggle, colour rising to her face.

'I just saw you two together and it hit me that I'd been stupid to wait for all that time and not tell her how I felt.' Khali explained.

Shepard smiled happily at the young couple, so obviously in love.

'That's fantastic. I'm glad some good came out of this.'

'It's not just us.' Katie said. 'I started a group on the extranet. There were already some there but they weren't exactly savoury. But then there are websites for everything on that subject. But I wanted this one to be for couples for advice and support. Sometimes the reactions aren't so friendly. But the response has been overwhelming. Sure you get some haters but I carefully remove those. And a lot of people are saying that you two getting together was the reason.'

'Anyway we should go. But we can't wait to watch the wedding. It will really bring validation for us and so many other couples. Hopefully when you two have done it, our families will consent and we can too.' Khali smiled and the two walked away, arm in arm.

Shepard looked at Garrus who just stared back at her for a few moments. Then he said, 'I should go tell the hierarchy that we are agreeing to have a public wedding should I?'

'I think you might have to.' Shepard said glumly, staring at the couple's backs. 'Oh maybe they were from the governments to try and encourage us to agree?'

'I don't think so love.' Garrus laughed and it was only slightly bitterly.

'Darn. I suppose we have to be good role models again.'

'Yes.'

'Fine. Come on then.'

Leah suspected that Garrus was a little bit relieved, as it meant he didn't have to keep disobeying the Hierarchy. It was inbuilt that he should follow their instructions and on some level he had never quite managed to kick that habit.

* * *

><p>'Can't I just close my eyes and pick one Kasumi?' Shepard begged.<p>

'No it has to be perfect. You're not getting away with anything sub-standard on my watch.'

'Mum what do you think?' Shepard turned to her mother who was looking at a the various veils with Tali.

'Oh no. I'm not getting into this. I know when to pick my battles and I'm not messing with your chief bridesmaid on this one.' Her mother said, feigning terror.

A few years ago she would not really have had anyone, besides her mother, to take wedding dress shopping as she never had had any close friends. She had never really let people get close to her but the experiences with the Reapers had changed that and now she had a small army with her. She had brought all the women who had served with her on the Normandy as they were now her closest friends. Well except for Jack. She liked Jack but she defiantly wasn't wedding dress buying material. She had actually gone to Tuchanka to live with the Krogan because she often felt closer to them than any other race (and she hoped like Hell that it stopped with her living with them. She really didn't want to imagine Jack having any mating opportunities while she was there). Even Garrus' sister, Solana was there. It had been incredibly difficult at first between Leah and all Garrus' family but they had accepted her in the end. Them finding out about Garrus and her relationship over the extranet probably hadn't helped matters. Her own parents had been pretty pissed too. But she was here and that meant a lot to Shepard. Solana seemed pretty confused by it all but seemed to be enjoying herself.

So here she stood, first class solider surrounded by white dresses. It really didn't feel right but as their wedding was getting bigger and bigger every day she needed to do things right. Miranda had insisted that they have one specially designed for her but they had needed some ideas so she had spent the last three hours draped in every kind of dress imaginable. The three designers Miranda had got seemed to be arguing about the type of straps she should have. Leah felt that she was in her own personal Hell.

'Oh oh!' Said Liara excitedly. 'This is the one. With a few changes, obviously.'

Liara held up something. Everyone else had been picking overly ornate pieces but Liara had studied what Shepard had been drawn too and had spent a long time looking for something incredibly simple, which had been pretty difficult to find. But as soon as the Asari had seen it, she'd known it would be perfect.

Shepard looked at the dress and smiled. She slipped into it and she just knew it was the right one. Someone was saying that it needed something or other but Shepard shock her head.

'No, it's this one. I don't want any changes. It's perfect.'

* * *

><p>Shepard looked at the women standing around at her and couldn't help but laugh. They were such a strange mix of bridesmaids. There were all colour coded at least but that was the last of the resemblance. Miranda and Ashley wore beautiful green dresses and Liara's was very similar, though in a more Asari style. Tali wore a green environment suit that was so beautiful and intricate. She had told Leah that it had been made specially, as an honour to her because of the help that Tali had given to stopping the Reapers and the increased respect the Quarians were afforded because of it. Solana wore her dress amour, as every Turian did, but had had special green plating added for the occasion. Kasumi had opted out of being a bridesmaid because she didn't want to be recognised at such a public event but Shepard knew she would be watching close by.<p>

The music started, Pachelbel's Canon started. It had long overtaken the traditional wedding march, and her bridesmaids set off for the long walk to the alter.

'Ready?' He asked, holding out an arm.

The music changed. She took a deep breath, nodded to her father and took his arm and set off. She looked at the lines of faces that filled the seats. The camera that belonged to Emily Wong followed her as she walked down the aisle. The event was being streamed live across the extranet and Shepard had ensured that her old friend got the exclusive scoop. Finally she saw faces that she recognised. She saw some of the people that she had served with over the years, and sgrinned slightly when she saw Katie and Khali, who waved excitidly back at her. They had been the first people outside the Normandy's crew and families they had asked. They had felt it only right they be there. Then she saw her family and Garrus' family. She was pleased to see Garrus' mother had managed to make it; the Salarian trial seemed to be working, and while it hadn't cured the Turian, it had given her back some of her strength and decreased her pain levels which was a start.

She saw then the other members of the Normandy team, and she nodded to them. It still pained her to see Kaidan and Thane's empty seats but she had already been to see them. After they had defeated the Reapers, the council had wanted to build a huge statue of the Normandy to honour them, like the Krogan one. But Shepard had just asked for a small plaque to be fitted instead. She had gone down that morning to lay a wreath on it, and had traced her name across their names.

But now her eyes were drawn to the Turian standing at the altar, waiting for her. And she smiled. Garrus could only stare at the woman who was walking towards him, and couldn't believe they were there to be joined. She was beautiful. He was so used to seeing her in amour, beautiful and terrible, the greatest predator, that he couldn't have imagined her like this. Her ebony hair curled gently around her face, and the white satin gown framed her delicate body so perfectly. She held a bunch of flowers, a mix between ones from Earth and Palaven, everything had been arranged as a perfect balance between the two worlds.

They were standing in front of Garrus and Leah's father placed her small hand into his, kissed her daughters cheek and then sat down with his wife. Leah handed the bouquet to Ashley and the service began. The human ceremony was first and they said their vows to each other. Garrus nearly laughed when Shepard promised to love honour and _obey_ him but he just about managed to control it. They both placed a chain containing a ring over each other's heads, as he couldn't get a ring onto her finger and he couldn't easily wear a ring, as a symbolic gesture. They were pronounced man and wife, which caused many smiles around the service and Shepard kissed his mouth gently and everyone cheered. They could hear the cheering outside too it was so loud. They were both pleased that those who supported their union outweighed those who had turned out to protest.

Then the Turian ceremony started. Garrus had been honoured when his colonies Primarch had offered to perform the ceremony. Usually only those in the highest ranks had their joining's presided over by a Primarch, something which his families status did not merit. It had been judged appropriate for the occasion, however and Garrus had been delighted. It was fairly quick, with no words being said by either of them. The Primarch turned to Garrus first and altered his clan markings slightly so that it showed he was now joined to another. Then he turned to Shepard and drew the clan markings on her. She knew that this was a defining moment. She was the first non Turian to wear these markings. Thankfully they had already decided how they should be applied, as otherwise it could have been a really awkward moment. She would have to touch them up every so often, as the oils did not meld to human skin like the did Turian, but she would wear them for the rest of her life. Then they were pronounced as joined and Garrus lent forward to touch his forehead against hers. Cheers erupted from all corners and they were swamped by people congratulating them. Her mother sobbed on Garrus' neck and Solana gingerly gave her a hug.

As they signed the official documents their friends and families lined up outside to throw confetti as Garrus had been rather taken with the idea. Crowds of people watched behind barriers that were guarded by both Human and Turian military, though they gathered more in front of the protestors than the well-wishers. It was deafening as Garrus and Shepard ran down the steps to a stream of confetti and most people were almost blinded by flashes from cameras from the journalists. Shepard and Garrus were simply overwhelmed by the love that they felt later, surrounded by their friends as they celebrated the event. The night passed in a happy drunken haze, with all the obligatory embarrassment though thankfully none of the arguing.

'I love you you know, Mrs Vakarian.' Garrus mused happily in her ear.

'I love you too Mr Shepard.' Leah said.

'Wait I thought that the wife took the husband's name in human society.' Garrus said, looking confused.

'Well, true but that only because tradition had it that men were superior to woman. We both know whose superior in this marriage.'

'How about we fight for it later. We could test my reach and your flexibility.' He murmured into her ear.

'Yeah.' She replied happily. 'Definatly.'

_The end_


End file.
